Spooky Is My Personality Type//October 3rd, 2021

This year, the closer October has gotten, I have seen many memes going around similar to this one:

I have a strange sense of humor at times and honestly, I have no idea if these are meant to be insulting to people like me or not, but, like many others in the spooky community, I choose to laugh at them. It can feel a bit cliche at times, being the “spooky friend”. When I was younger, I chose to hide my interests from the world. I was super shy and lived in constant fear of being judged, so I dressed to blend in, and named generic, popular things as my favorites (movies, music, etc.) when asked. It was a miserable, hollow existence and I’m very, very glad that I grew out of it. I find I actually get more compliments now than my younger self ever would have expected to. People can be mean, as they can with anything, but at the end of the day, nothing beats knowing who you are and what makes you happy, and feeling comfortable enough with yourself to express that.

With that said, though, I have come to truly realize that these memes are true. My entire personality really is Halloween!

I know there are people out there who will try very hard to fit into a particular “box” of sorts, be it a fandom, a style, etc., but Halloween was always an effortless thing with me. I never could explain why I loved it the way I did, I just knew that it was part of me, and I connected with it more than I even did with my own birthday. It took me many years, though, to realize just how essential it was to me, and how it influenced almost everything else in my life as well. I didn’t realize it in my teens, but feigning interest in what was popular and “acceptable” was truly damaging to me. Everything that didn’t connect back to Halloween in some way felt fraudulent, even unconsciously. I truly felt as though I didn’t know who I was, and might never know.

But now, when I look around at all of the Halloween goodness I have surrounded myself with, I can honestly say, I know exactly who I am.

And, as I said in the beginning, I don’t know if the memes surrounding that kind of thought process are meant to be a joke, an insult, just lighthearted fun, or what, but I can honestly sit here and say, with no shame, that for me, they are the truth. Every inch of my life is colored by Halloween. What I watch, read, listen to, etc., the sights I want to see if I go on a vacation...it’s all influenced one hundred percent by the things that Halloween has given to me, and if I can’t find some way to relate what I’m doing to something spooky, I tune out.

You could say Halloween is my hobby, but it’s more than that. The closest anyone has ever come to describing what Halloween is to me, was when I was told I treat it as a religion. Some people I know have an Instagram page devoted to Halloween, while another page is their “personal” account, who they are in “real” life. But for me, there truly is no separation. That passion is always there, calendar be damned. It doesn’t matter if it’s October twentieth or January twelfth, I’m always thinking in terms of Halloween. What kind of photo can I create? What memories can I share? How can I manipulate any current situation I’m in to be a little more “spooky”? I have had people tell me they’d like to know more about me, even been asked on a few occasions if I have a “personal” Instagram account, but the truth is, this is me. Halloween is 100% who I am, and I don’t regret, or feel the need to apologize for, that at all. I don’t feel like any less of a person for having an entire personality and life based on one specific thing. If anything, I feel more fulfilled than most people. I truly don’t understand how people function without something like that to center and ground them, and without a holiday to look forward to and focus on even during the worst of times.

People today seem to think that obsessing over autumn or Halloween is some kind of “basic”, but I truly believe that I’m one of a very lucky few. Halloween may be my entire personality, but I wouldn’t trade it for any other personality in the world.

Stay spooky my friends. And if spooky is all you are, know that it’s enough.

The Long Way Back//October 32nd, 2023

Every year I talk about November 1st...it's such a confusing day. It makes me feel so many emotions all at once. Mournful, depressed, angry...It's like a slap in the face shoving us into a new month, forcing us to forget what came just hours before. Last year, I did have somewhat of an epiphany regarding the month of November as a whole, and while I do my best to keep my own past words in mind, that doesn't make today any easier. Or easy to explain, for that matter. I suppose I should speak from my heart. Today I feel detached from reality, as if I don't really exist. Like there is no longer a place in the world for me. Just yesterday everything I loved made sense, and was loved and revered by everyone else as well. I felt like I fit. But now, today, I see those same things being quickly shoved away. Less than twenty-four hours after trick-or-treating time began, it's all being swept under the rug. The season culminated and the world is no longer a place I recog

The Spooky Community Has No Entrance Fee//October 288th, 2023

Something I’ve been seeing a lot this year around the Halloween community, possibly more than any other year, has been talk of consumerism, how much money spent on Halloween is too much, whether collecting is really that important or if it’s somehow required to truly be a part of the community, etc. I’m in no way trying to copy anyone else who’s already spoken on this subject, but I thought I would chime in and share my thoughts, as it is something I definitely think about. Now, I’ve always been relatively fortunate when it comes to how much money I have to spend on Halloween goodies. As a child, I often received money for my birthday, September 8th, at the height of the shopping season, at least as I knew it back then. No, it wasn’t enough to collect the way I do now, but it was enough to make me happy, and you also could get a lot more for a lot less back then. I didn’t necessarily stop to think about my “hauls”, but I knew even at a young age that there was nothing I’d rather be sp

Here’s Where The Story Ends//October 337th, 2020

Everyone has moments in their life when they feel like giving up. That feeling of “This is never going to happen, so why keep trying?” Sometimes it relates to a thing that would be trivial to anyone else, sometimes it’s about something more life-altering. But, we’ve all been there. I have moments of discouragement with this blog. Times I’ve told myself, “No one cares”, or “No one will read this”, etc., but I continue on, for the joy of it. And sometimes, something amazing happens. If you haven’t read my previous post, Have You Seen This Pumpkin? , I would strongly suggest doing so before continuing on with this story. The short version is, I saw a pumpkin in someone’s window when I was twelve years old, and have spent the last twenty-one years trying to find it for myself. When I published that post, I wasn’t expecting much of a response. I was really just hoping to hear someone say, “Yes, my family had this pumpkin when I was a kid!” Or “I once saw this in a neighbor’s window while

Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

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